On March 20,
at its Twenty-Fifth Meeting, the Committee of Experts of
the OAS Anticorruption Mechanism (MESICIC) adopted for
the first time a report on the implementation in Saint
Kitts and Nevis of the Inter-American Convention against
Corruption.

This report, available
here, provides a comprehensive review of the
progress achieved by Saint Kitts and Nevis in
implementing the provisions of the Convention relating,
among other, on standards of conduct to prevent
conflicts of interest, systems for the declaration of
assets, income and liabilities, as well as mechanisms to
encourage participation of civil society and
nongovernmental organizations in the fight against
corruption.

In the second part of this report, a comprehensive review was
carried out on the structure, operation and results
obtained in four oversight bodies responsible for
preventing, detecting and punishing corruption in Saint
Kitts and Nevis: the
Office of Director of Public Prosecutions, the
Magistrates Court, the Office of the Ombudsman and the
Royal Saint Christopher and Nevis Police Force.

This review was performed taking into account the information
provided to the MESICIC Technical Secretariat by the
country under review, and the information gathered
during the on-site site visit held in Basseterre in
October, 2014 by representatives of Mexico and Trinidad
and Tobago, with the support of the Technical
Secretariat.

Besides the review, this report contains a set of recommendations
formulated to Saint Kitts and Nevis that refer to
important aspects such as
design and implement outreach campaigns, targeting all
public servants, on the existence, nature, and scope of
the Public Service Act 2011, its Codes, and the Public
Service Standing Orders 2014, and adopt the necessary
steps for the prompt implementation of the provisions of
the Integrity in Public Life Act of 2013 as well as in
creating and setting up the Integrity Commission
referred to in that statute.

As for the four bodies selected by Saint Kitts and Nevis
which are reviewed in the report, the recommendations to
be considered by the State address the following:

- Appoint the Director of
Public Prosecutions in accordance with the terms of
section 81 of the Constitution and develop instruments,
manuals, and/or guides for directing prosecutors in
effectively and correctly initiating and pursuing
criminal proceedings for the commission of corrupt acts.

- As regards the
Magistrates Court, provide the
Court with the financial resources necessary to
ensure permanent, appropriate training for all its
officers, including the Magistrates, particularly on
topics related to the correct prosecution of cases
involving acts of corruption and on ethics, integrity,
and transparency in judicial functions.

- With respect to the
Office of the Ombudsman, adopt,
as promptly as possible, the relevant measures to
provide this Office with the human and financial
resources necessary for due compliance with its legal
functions, and establish mechanisms to ensure
effective compliance by the public agencies subject to
its oversight with the recommendations issued by the
Ombudsman in its investigations.

- Concerning the Royal
Saint Christopher and Nevis Police Force, complement the
documents that describe the functions of its personnel
with documented procedures, manuals, or guides related
to the functions of investigating corruption crimes and
develop regular training programs for the Police Force
on proper and effective investigations of corruption
crimes.

Along with the country report of Saint Kitts and
Nevis, the reports for Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas,
the United States, and Venezuela were also adopted,
which are availablehere.For more information, please visit theAnti-corruption
Portal of the Americas.

Edition N° 230 - March 2015

What is the MESICIC?

The Mechanism For Follow-up on the
Implementation of the Inter-American
Convention against Corruption, known as MESICIC for its Spanish acronym, is a tool to
support the development of the Inter-American
Convention against Corruption through
cooperation between States Parties.